Tarek El Moussa was recently spotted out in public with estranged wife Christina El Moussa for the first time since he filed for divorce.
The hosts of Flip or Flop on HGTV were reunited on Friday at the 2017 Investor Summit in Las Vegas, standing on stage and posing with smiles plastered across their faces.
All seemed calm between the former couple, who separated last May, yet who remain both the parents of two small kids and the co-leads on a hit cable show.
But don’t let Tarek’s happy mug or his Instagram caption fool you.
“Me and #christina on the #big #stage having #fun and teaching folks how to #flip #houses!!” Tarek wrote along with the photo below of the pair on stage.
Ignoring El Moussa’s untamed, ridiculous use of hashtags in that caption, we’re here to focus on the dark past that hangs over this once-happy couple.
Tarek and Christina split last spring after an explosive fight.
It remains unclear just what led to the harsh words that were exchanged, but Tarek stormed out of his house afterward with a gun in hand, headed for the woods.
After Christina called the cops, Tarek explained that he simply feared for his safety among the animals outside.
The stars quietly went their separate ways at the time, but word of what happened leaked online a few months later, prompting the home renovation experts to publicly acknowledge their separation.
Fair enough.
No big deal.
Plenty of marriages fall apart.
But new reports have shined a damaging light on Tarek, with one tabloid actually claiming he used to threaten to rape Christina.
Like, a lot.
“He actually joked about raping Christina on more than one occasion,” a source told Life & Style last month of how Tarek would act on set.
“Tarek thinks it’s funny,” this witness claimed.
Now, In Touch Weekly is adding fuel to this scandalous fire by detailing another controversial action Tarek supposedly took against Christina.
“When he and Christina were on the rocks, he confessed to the production crew that he suspected she was dating someone, so he hired a private investigator to follow her,” says a source, adding:
“He wanted to know where she was going and what she was doing.”
The magazine writes that Tarek feared Christina was dating Gary Anderson, the family contractor who Tarek knew pretty well.
And she actually is dating Gary Anderson, but has been pretty out in the open about it and we haven’t heard much chatter about Christina actually cheating on Tarek with this guy.
Remember: the El Moussas separated many months ago and Tarek has since admitted to dating other women after the split.
“It’s hard for Tarek to see Christina dating, but it’s even worse that Gary is the guy she’s with,” In Touch adds. “It stings, and Christina knows it. Tarek is incredibly jealous and filled with rage.”
Yikes. That sounds like a dangerous recipe.
Thus far, neither Tarek nor Christina has made any disparaging remarks about the other in public.
They are parents to a six-year old girl named Taylor and a 17-month old son named Brayden and do seem committed to raising the kids in a friendly environment.
Moreover, they need to keep filming new Flip or Flop episodes together, as their contract requires Tarek and Christina to finish out the current season.
After that, however, they are free to pursue other professional options; rumors have said that Christina is interested in her own spinoff.
Would you tune in for it?
And can you believe things between the El Moussa have taken such an ugly turn?!?